The Ultimate Driving Machine is a traditional BMW slogan and identity which BMW enthusiasts rally around, dating all the way back to 1975. In recent years however, this popular tag line took a back seat as BMW moved in different directions to the likes of the "JOY" campaign.

Fret not however, as BMWNA, which took on a new lead ad agency in the US (Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners) in April, is set to revive the Ultimate Driving Machine marketing identity this Saturday (Jan. 7), as the company will air a new 30-second television spot on national TV in the US. The commercial will premiere on NBC during the NFL wild-card games.

The commercial [see here at NY Times] starts off with an E92 M3 GTS sliding around the track, followed by a progression through BMW's current models. There's even a cameo by a future model - the BMW i8.

The commercial delivers the the message: "We don’t make sports cars. We don’t make S.U.V.'s. We don't make hybrids, and we don't make luxury sedans. We only make one thing, the ultimate driving machine."

Dan Creed, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, said, "We’re in the middle of an extremely significant product offensive." BMW will be introducing 14 models in 2012, the most model introductions in a single year by BMW in at least a decade. With the new campaign, Mr. Creed said, the company is trying to “take the ultimate driving machine and define what it will be in the future.”

Ed Brojerdi, co-chief creative officer of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal, a New York-based part of MDC Partners, said the agency was dealing “with one of the most iconic taglines in marketing. We needed to make sure the marketing is as encompassing as the portfolio. Big brands have a focused point of view, they stand for something. BMW evokes the joy and passion for driving, sheer driving pleasure.”

After debuting in Saturday's football games, the new commercial will run during primetime programs like House, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Law and Order: SVU on Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC . It also will run nationally on cable channels throughout the year.

Christie L. Nordhielm, an associate professor of business administration at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, said that although the ad’s depiction of multiple car models was “not particularly unique, the message in the campaign is very unique. I don’t recall another automotive company emphasizing the overall corporate benefit, while expressly de-emphasizing the specific types of cars, in the last 30 years.”

BMW, she added, “in a sense is the Apple of the automotive industry. Apple delivers great user experience across products, and BMW delivers an exceptional experience across all types of automobiles.”

Although this new ad spot will signal the big push to revive The Ultimate Driving Machine slogan, BMWNA has been hinting at such a trend since April, when we saw the tag line make its return to BMW's displays at the major auto shows (see NYIAS and LA Autoshow photos below).

The Ultimate Driving Machine is back! Hide your kids! Hide Your Wife! (The X5 drifting/doing whatever it was doing on the beach was kind of weak, I'd much prefer if it was in a more rugged environment)

Glad to see the Ultimate Driving Machine is back. I don't think they should have used the GTS in the commercial though, because we didn't get it here. So then most people will just think its an orange 3 Series coupe with a big spoiler on the back, instead of a stripped down M3.